Life Hack
by AirFireWaterEarth
Summary: Vanellope is a game hacker, using bugs and glitches to her advantage. When clashing against botfighter101, her hacks make them go way farther than a tantrum. Hiro is a super-smart robotics designer that plays video games for leisure; he'd prefer the real thing. But when playing against CandyCrusher14, Hiro wants to find out who has given him such a challenge. (Don't own pic)
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: Vanellope is a game hacker, using bugs and glitches to her advantage. When clashing against botfighter101, her hacks make them go way farther than a tantrum. Hiro is a super-smart robotics designer that plays video games for leisure; he'd prefer the real thing. But when playing against CandyCrusher14, Hiro wants to find out who has given him such a challenge.**

**Life Hack**

_Botfighter101_

Hiro pulled out his laptop. He didn't want to go out fighting or deal with sore losers. He didn't want to do _anything _really, but not doing anything gets really boring, really fast. This was rather convenient, at the moment anyways.

It wasn't like he had anything against playing video games, it was just that going out and doing bot fights gave a bigger thrill, not to mention made some cash. Well, if he wasn't caught. But the last time he was caught, he was with Tadashi.

And Tadashi was long gone.

Hiro loaded and waited for a player willing to play against, although he had no idea who would at such an ungodly hour. He looked at the picture of him and Tadashi, him— Hiro— holding an envelope of acceptance. It was taken just a few hours before the fire. Hiro unwillingly allowed himself to sink some more. So it hadn't actually been that long of a time. It had been 6 months and 12 days. Hiro cringed at the number in the right corner of his screen. Maybe 13 days. But it felt like Tadashi had been gone for so long, like years and years. And he definitely wasn't coming back. And the sooner he believed that, the sooner—

A ding broke Hiro from his hostage, which was a relief. His thoughts were going farther than they had in 5 months.

Hiro click the "fight" button underneath the words "_candycrusher14 wants to play"._

_Candycrusher14_

Vanellope was always up at such late hours at night. It bothered the hell out of her foster siblings. Sometimes, if she was feeling especially cruel, she turned up the volume. As far as foster children went, she was, by far, the luckiest.

Well, out of terms in orphanizm? Maybe not. In terms of luckiness? Definitely... maybe. Just as long as the place had Wi-Fi.

Her family died in an electrical crash. As in a semi crashed into electrical poles, resulting in the smash-and-electrocution of the contradictory German-and-Japanese Von Schweetz. Vanellope had opted not to go on that trip, and, there were some days she wished she had.

But those days weren't that day. Vanellope checked her watch; the clock side of her screen was smashed. Or maybe it would be in 3 minutes. Never knew. Vanellope blew at a purple stripe of hair (or maybe it was her natural color; computer lights are very vague at 12am. Excuse her, 11:58). What a wonderful world.

Vanellope shifted in her bed. She was uber uncomfortable. Why hadn't she changed out of her clothes? Oh well, at least she had taken out her hair clips.

Vanellope smiled to herself in a moment of light heartedness. Ah, first world problems. Very different and so much better than crispy parents. Or bullies. Those were just as awesome. Especially for a fourteen year old.

Vanellope shook her head. Maybe it was best just to go to bed. It wasn't like there would be anyone on... Oh, who was she kidding? Of course there were people on! Vanellope shrugged off her feelings as she normally did and looked for player waiting for an opponent. Vanellope scrolled through the list. She preferred to play people she hadn't played against before. It gave her the benefit of surprise. But she did on occasion, since she usually _did_ have a trick up her sleeve.

It looked like tonight was going to be one of those nights. Then Vanellope found a player she hadn't seen before. She smirked and clicked battle and awaited the confirmation.

_Botfighter101 ready to play._

**A/N: Heads up, this is way shorter than I usually make these. I'm at 1000 min, but every else I wanted to save for next chapter... of there is one. But, hey, the last one I did got 5 reviews in 1 week, and that was awful, so maybe this one... ?**

**~ Sam**


	2. Chapter 2

**Ack! I am SO sorry about ****last chapter! Here's the REAL chapter:**

**Life Hack**

_Botfighter101_

For the first time in months, Hiro hadn't been plagued with nightmares.

You have to sleep first to get those.

No, instead, he played against an insufferable cheater whose name was most likely inspired by a smartphone app. It had been like he was _trying _get beaten. Hiro had thought at the beginning of the game. The dude was standing there. Absolutely still. Hiro took a slash at him and BOOM! That was it. His life levels went down, just barely out of the reach of the halfway mark. He didn't understand it. It _had _to be a glitch. After he lost that game, Hiro played _candycrusher14 _twice before the offender called it quits. The entire time, Hiro was trying to get into this guy's system. After failing serval times, he went in to find out all about this dude.

He PMed the multiple players that _candycrusher14_ had fought against that night. All of them had played against him before, apparently. As it turned out, this dude never fought against anyone too many times, but they all just guessed that his fresh victims were out that night. They also said he used hacks (Hiro restrained himself from typing something along the lines of "no duh" back). They redeemed themselves by adding that no one had ever used those kinds before (by then Hiro was certain they were just trying to annoy him). Hiro decided looking at the players profile, but the best he got was:

_Guess what? I'm 14 suckas!_

This guy was obviously cocky about his works.

With those measly factors, Hiro thought up a plan. Well, two. The first was revenge. The second was to find out who could out-hack him (you know, the kid that graduated high school at 13). The first plan began with entering the garage (and not tripping over anything so Baymax wouldn't announce Hiro's exit to the world). Next was a chip encoded with something that even this encrypted hacker wouldn't be able to get out of their system. BitWhisper Virus **(1). **Now all he needed to do was play him again.

Hiro wasn't 100% certain that he would play him again, so he made a new account "_BigHiro6". _It was… a little suspicious. But, hey, everyone was obsessed with him. Uhh… them. Big Hero 6 was definitely a them with no association with him at all. At least, that was what the world was supposed to think anyway. Hiro smirked to himself. If there was one thing that _candycrusher14 _couldn't beat him at, it was being a super hero.

And being a super genius, of course.

Hiro was glad it was Sunday **(2) **because he was practically glued to the computer. Finally, _candycrusher14 _accepted the game request. Both of their animated players just stood there as Hiro clicked away. All he needed to do was take a slash at him and…

DONE. _candycrusher14's _animated player froze and the screen shot popped up:

ERROR OCCURED

Hiro smirked.

"Have fun fixing that!" Hiro laughed and spun in his grey-blue swivel chair.

"Have fun fixing what?" came a voice that belonged to a middle-aged woman holding a plate with hot chicken wings on it.

Hiro cringed, "Uh… nothing Aunt Cass."

Aunt Cass looked down at her nephew and sighed. She'd learned a long time ago not to ask. She just hoped it wasn't something illegal.

"Well, it probably requires you to eat." She put a plate down and smiled widely.

"Spicy hot chicken wings! You'll be feeling these tomorrow!" Aunt Cass bumped her elbow into Hiro's shoulder and walked out of the room.

Hiro leaned back in his chair.

This day was going pretty well.

_Candycrusher14_

Vanellope was seething. She had been mad before, enough to cause her need to transfer schools. But that had been pure anger. Nothing about her anger was pure. It was a toxic anger that, instead of coming in like waves, came in like sheets, layering themselves over each other until it was like a thick coat. There was nothing she hated more than being beaten, and that only happened when she first began playing these games _when she was seven_. But someone putting in a virus? Her computer wouldn't even do a Google search! If she ever found this … (she was in public), she would personally make sure he's suffer a long, slow, painful death.

Vanellope slammed her computer, groaning and allowing her head to fall down in her lap.

"Hello, Glitch."

Vanellope didn't have to look up.

"Hi, Taffyta. Candlehead. Rancis…" she said.

She didn't know why she had decided to go to the park that morning. Maybe because she wanted to climb something (trees were preferable) and didn't want to drop her computer. Well, it was useless know anyways.

Taffyta was probably doing something (most likely licking a lollypop ALWAYS found within her clutch. Poor lollipops), and spoke again.

"Forgot how to use your computer Vanellope?"

Her taunt struck a chord. Vanellope looked up and scowled.

"It's called psychogenic amnesia and unless my laptop comes and tries to murder me, it ain't gonna happen."

Taffyta just smirked.

"Right. How did your parents die again?" Taffyta mocked surprise, "Woah! Can't go around sounding like you, can I?"

Vanellope wanted to tell her that, even if she couldn't remember the night, it didn't mean she didn't _know _what happened. But she couldn't bring herself to say the words. And, let's face it, what kind of person could? Other than, obviously, Taffyta.

Candlehead decided to join in on the fun. "Did your laptop decide to forget you?"

Almost everything Candlehead ever said sounded sincere; she couldn't help it. But it was hard for Vanellope to decipher whether Candlehead was trying to be mean, or if she really meant it. And Vanellope wouldn't put it past Candlehead to really truly mean it.

Rancis used to tease along but to Vanellope's evil delight, he had stood to the side since puberty hit (still hitting, but she was doing pretty well while it worked it's evil curse).

Vanellope blew at a blue strand of hair (perfectly clear in the spring sky) and shoved her laptop in her backpack.

"Well, it was _lovely _to talk to you all, but I've got to get going," Vanellope stood up and slung her bag over her should and said in her most plastic self she could maintain, "See you at school!"

Taffyta had probably said something else, but Vanellope had had her fair share of bullies for the day and she hadn't even gotten home yet. In her bag, Vanellope could feel her laptop still heating up. In fact, it was getting worse now. Vanellope shook her head and continued to her favorite spot; her tree.

It was colorful, like her. On New Years, people threw necklaces, bracelets, and other things with beads (plus the occasional bra) into the tree, unknowing that it had it's own resident, although she was stowed safely at the top, where, hopefully, no one could find her. The tree's attire was never cleaned off, so it was a clutter of colorful, shiny objects. The tree itself was a normal tree, if you meant normal as in the oldest tree in the city. It probably wasn't saying much but, if you withstood the fumes, construction, and just people being people longer than any tree had, it definitely stood out amongst the others, even without the jewelry.

Standing at the base of the tree, Vanellope made sure both straps of her backpack was secured around her shoulders approaching the tree completely.

"Good morning, Ol' Man." Vanellope said, patting its thick trunk.

Vanellope proceeded to climb up, through the leaves and branches, until she reached "her" branch. It was almost like every other branch on the tree, but Vanellope had made it her place since she was ten years old. She lied down on the branch and closed her eyes, breathing in the air. The the cool breeze was interrupted by the sound of her computer continuing to overheat. Vanellope growl and, being already quite balanced due to her many years of being the tree's constant friend, pulled her bag around to her front and yanked out the laptop. Opening it up, Vanellope cringed at it's glitching screen. After going through it thoroughly, Vanellope noticed that, every time her computer glitched, it was showing off her location. Vanellope slowly pieced together the puzzle and her stomach dropped and grew queasy as it went down.

The person that had sickened her computer was trying to track her.

**A/N: Woah! Is this a chapter I updated with? Weird. Anyways, I've been feeling down in the crater lately, feeling like an awful editor, writer, and life-sucker-extraordinaire (i actually think that's a double negative, but you get my point.**

**(1) Tis a real virus. Doesn't do what Hiro did, but I didn't make up the name…**

**(2) I'm feeling convenient today.**

**So reviews= update!**

**~ Sam**

**P.S. Sorry if Vanellope's part was weird; it was written at 1:30 AM. Not my prime time.**


	3. REPLIES TO COMMENTS

**This made the A/N for next chapter way too long! So you won't be notified of this, there's just replies to reviews here.**

**Toa Aerrow, Guest, Azalea Essential, Amaya-chan07, Bloody Macaroon: I find it a little depressing that more people reviewed to the glitched out chapter than the real one, but, at least you guys cared enough to read about this review asking for an... improved chapter. As you can see, I fixed it. (P.S. Bloody Macaroon, you've been making Vaniro videos, haven't you? I'm right there with ya ^.^)**

**Nature Elsa: Thanks, and I guess I'm good to some extent and compared to some, but I really just think that, for the amount of time and videoes I've been editing with, I should be better, I'm just… not. Like I said, thank you, though. :)**

**Courage and Love: YOU DID WHAT?! How? And I would NEVER leave you with a chapter like that! Ever! Thank you, though! ^.^**

**Writer65: They met! Was it as you expected? And i'll try!**

**electricangel12: Oh boy, you're a long reviewer like I am ^.^ Okay, here it goes: I have HUGE problems doing that. I also have a YT account that's actually going at a fair speed, so I try and keep up with it. Then FF gets dropped and I only gets spurts of inspiration here and there, most of the time not for the same story. Trust me, I had the same opinion when I read chapter 2, as well. Yikes! That was an awful surprise to wake up to! I'm glad Vanellope was in character, but this time I think it was Hiro that hopped onto the OOC train :[]. I'm glad you liked the username; it seemed Hiro-esque ^.^ Vanellope might not have to look so hard… I'll add why next chapter.**

**Thanks to all for reviewing and, if you did get notified for this chapter for some reason, don't worry! I didn't spam you; there's a real chapter next page. ^.^**


	4. Chapter 3

**Warning: Written in Google Docs so the grammar might be even worse than usual \0o0/ (that was supposed to be a wide-eyed face. With the sides being hands and the 0s being eyes, and the o being a mouth… okay, I'll just… go now). Also, in this chapter, the chapter's POVs aren't proportionate; if you find Hiro's POV short, don't worry; Vanellope's won't be. It might be the other way around in other chapters too. I'll try and avoid switching around too much in one chapter, though.**

_Botfighter101 (BigHiro6)_

Hiro's desktop was spazzing out. He was pretty sure the guy was trying to fight back at the virus. And, judging by his techniques, knew that Hiro had been trying to track him. Keyword: had been. The location was on a nice piece of printer paper.

Hiro felt very stalker-ish at that moment. For a split second, Hiro felt dread; what if this person had called the cops? Surely, it was illegal to do things like this. There was also the feeling of a bad kind of anticipation, the kind that made you dizzy and sick to your stomach. He hadn't been planning on taking a flight to see this guy; it just wasn't worth it. But if it was closer, then he would go for. And _candycrusher14 _was local… very local. So Hiro was going for it. He wasn't going to murder him, just meet him. And after that, the person wouldn't feel threatened… okay, so there were some holes in Hiro's plan; it was last minute and he couldn't go back now.

The virus had the ability to show the address, _and_ even the room, but this one said that _candycrusher14 _was at the park. It was a little inconvenient, but Hiro could ask around… Because people knew each other by their usernames on MOR **(1). **Hiro groaned and plopped on his bed.

This wasn't a plan; this was Swiss cheese.

But he had to be something. Hiro had a little voice in his head saying he didn't, but that was the quitter voice. And if there was one thing Tadashi taught him, it was to never quit. Even if you were working Stalker-style. Adding one more piece to his plan, he grabbed his phone and transferred the data in his desktop into it. That way, he could try and track him while setting this guy left on a mission to take it off of his desktop. Well, this guy was probably smart enough to just try and stop his computer from sending the signals. Hiro just hoped that he-himself- got there in time. **(2)**

Hiro felt so stalker-ish, he practically smelled it.

**~line break. blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah~**

The park was maybe 5 minutes away, via trolley. Add the wait time and crowds, Hiro got to the park about 15 minutes later **(3). **He wandered around the areas until he got closer to where the red marked indicated _candycrusher14 _was. It took a while, and Hiro had to use his phone that kept loosing where he was and finding him again. Eventually, Hiro made it to a tree that looked like an old woman at a club; wrinkly and wearing clothes made for those far under her age. It _definitely_ looked like a place _candycrusher14_ would hang around. Only issue; there was no one there.

Hiro sighed. _candycrusher14 _had probably dropped his laptop there and made a run for it. It was a waste of money, but it wasn't like the laptop was worth that much anymore anyways. Hiro sighed and was about to make an exit when a memory card fell down from his left.

Either memory cards were falling for the sky, or a certain person was up in that tree.

_candycrusher14_

She had _intended _to take out the memory card and replace it. Not like she had the cash to do it, but it was better than being killed for beating someone in a game, which was still tracking her, despite her very best attempts. **(4)** Then _he_ came. _BigHiro6_ (she was guessing it had something to do with the new superhero group in town) didn't look any older than she was, maybe by a year at most. Still, he was taller than her by a good few inches (she wasn't exactly the tallest kid around). She held her breath and waited a moment before he gave up and left. Relieved, Vanellope forgot the memory card was in her hands and let it slip.

And there went her secrecy.

_BigHiro6_ looked up; she held her breath and tried to think. What to do… If she ran she had a 50/50 shot of making it. Vanellope could take that chance. But the ego in her head stopped her from running. Why was she afraid of this kid? Sure, he was taller than her. But he was _her_ age for heaven's sake! Vanellope finally let out her breath and sat there, waiting. When she finally heard him coming, she closed her eyes, hook the insides of her knees on the branch and swung upside down.

"Hello!" Vanellope said with a wide smile.

_BigHiro6 _looked shocked and nearly dropped off his branch.

"Umm… hi?" he asked, almost as a question.

Vanellope continued with her wide smile.

"Can I help ya with something?" Vanellope said, turning her head to the side. This kid was bluffing. She was going to torture him for the panic attack he gave her.

"Um, yeah," _BigHiro6_ said, "Are you… _candycrusher14_?"

"Mmm, depends: are you the Stinkbrain that murdered my laptop? And then tracked me? Because I think I'll need to write down your name so I can report you. Hiro, something…"

Hiro looked surprised.

"How do you know my name?"

Vanellope rolled her eyes, "Hm, let me see… you hack into my computer, find my location, while simultaneously killing it, but can't spell 'H.E.R.O' in Big Hero 6? I think… _not_."

Hiro cringed and nodded.

"Uh… right."

There was a fair length of silence before Vanellope darted her eyes around and finally looked back at Hiro.

"Do you need something?"

Hiro cringed.

"Yeah… I didn't really plan this out that well…" Hiro raked his hand through his hair, causing him to wobble on the branch he was clinging to.

Vanellope felt heat rising to her chest.

"So you're saying you _ruined _my computer to the point of _no salvage_. Because of sketchy planning?"

Hiro coughed.

"No. I _corrupted_ your computer because you were cheating."

Although Vanellope knew she was hard to take seriously while upside down, she shrieked.

"It's just a game!"

This kid was _delusional_. What was with him? Vanellope didn't want a pity party, especially not from PhycHiro (she'd work on the name), but that was all she had. Vanellope, hands in her pockets, pinched herself to keep herself from choking up. Not now. Alone, somewhere private; something the tree should have been.

The smile Vanellope hadn't realized she'd dropped was back on.

"Well, thanks for stopping by, but I think you should _go_ now," Vanellope said, almost sounding drunk in the way she dragged out her words.

Hiro looked at her, and then at the rest of the tree above her. With that, he set back his shoulders and switched his attitude (Vanellope was pretty sure that was a sign of psychotics). He turned his head upside down to meet eyes with Vanellope.

"So… what's up the rest of this tree?"

Vanellope narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

"Nothing." She answered in a tone equal to Hiro's.

Hiro shrugged and began moving upwards. Vanellope watched and snickered; she turned upright on her branch and looked down at her colorfully painted nails **(5)**.

"Oh, I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Hiro snorted.

"What, do you have, booby traps up here?"

Vanellope listened for a minute before she heard a snap and waited as Hiro fell rapidly into her front line of vision. Quickly, she reached forward and grabbed his wrist. She smirked.

"Yes."

Vanellope promptly hauled him up and nearly threw him onto a branch to the front left of her.

"And only _I_ know where they are." Vanellope thought about her next sentence and scowled. "Go back home and ruin someone else's l-laptop **(6)**."

Hiro looked at Vanellope for a second.

"I can help fix it; your laptop." he said.

Vanellope shook her head.

"You'll probably just ruin it some more."

Hiro looked at her, "Which would make it worse than it already is because..? Listen; you have a BitWhisper Virus in your computer. You have a really well protected system, but the virus is eating holes through it like crazy, letting all the bugs you've fought against using that system invade. With all the hacking systems and other virus-laced content you've downloaded, you're dead within a few minutes. I graduated high school last year and have recently started college at SFIT; if there's anyone that can help, it's me."

Vanellope growled.

"Oh, a real life genius here in front of me; I'm honored. And I know; you may be Einstein, but I know every hack and virus out there; I'll fix it myself. Just leave me-"

"But do you have the equipment to do it?"

Vanellope paused and blinked at Hiro.

"What?"

"So you know how to fix a virus," Hiro said with a shrug, "Do you have the equipment to fix it? I see you have a pretty old model of the Flitter laptop-"

"Which you would know because you took a peek at _all_ of my information."

"... so it doesn't look like you can- no offense- afford all the equipment needed to take out the virus. Like I said, I'm a student at SFIT, I have access to all that equipment." Hiro took a deep breath, "Look; if I mess up your laptop, you can turn me in for destruction of property. My name's Hiro Hamada. Here's my phone if you don't believe me. I swear to you, ah… whatever your name is…, I'm just trying to make it up to you."

Vanellope turned on and looked at the phone handed to her, but really only looked at the front screen before tossing it back to Hiro.

"The name's Vanellope," she ignored the eyebrows-hit-hairline, wide-eyed look Hiro gave her, "and you better have the equipment to fix it."

**A/N: I HAVE REVIEW REPLIES IN THE CHAPTER BEFORE THIS! You didn't get notified because, technically, I already posted chapter 3. Also, the A/N was WAAAAY too long. Okay, so meh. Meh, meh, meh, meh, meh… I'm soooo done with playing the pronoun game. Anyways, let's hope this doesn't just turn into a bunch of code like last chapter.**

**(1) It's supposed to stand for the game's name, but I made up to name for it at all. * face palm ***

**(2) I have no idea how tracking works. All of the terms used in the chapter are either made up, or known because I'm a Non/Disney YT editor, meaning what I do is illegal, and therefore, downloading the footage to do it would be using illegal software. And those usually have bugs in them -.- I DON'T know how to track someone and the only things I know about hacking is you use software to discover passwords.**

**(3) I'm adding only 10 minutes because my story's Vanellope would probably have gotten Hiro off her track in 20 minutes.**

**(4) I DON'T KNOOOOOWWWWW! The saddest thing is that I've written a story on hacking before (How To Hack Your Dragon; incomplete and on hiatus/ abandoned).**

**(5) I really don't know what my obsession is with the dyed hair and painted nails… I really don't…**

**(6) The stutter with the "l" was because Vanellope was about to say "life", but she doesn't like people knowing too much about her.**

**So, here's some information: First of all, those that began following me because of my HTTYD fanfics know that I DON'T UPDATE UNLESS I GET FIVE REVIEWS PER CHAPTER. I'm not even kidding. I've had this rule since I began on FF. I just didn't uphold it as much as I do now. Second of all, on my YT account, there is a trailer I made for this. It's not great, but a full summary is in the desc. I can't give you the think, but just look up Hiro x Vanellope | Life Hack and you'll find it. NOTE (after you read the summary): THERE WILL BE A SIGNIFICANTLY LESS AMOUNT OF SUPERNATURALISM TO THIS IF ANY! What I said about her memory stands though (reference in last chapter)**

**Woah! I think the A/N was longer than the actual chapter -.- Oh well, until next time!**

**~ Sam**


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